Engineering Wonders of the World
Volume I

THE MARCONI TOWERS, POLDHU, CORNWALL. GENERAL VIEW OF THE FOUR TOWERS (ALMOST COMPLETED). BY ARTHUR E. HEMING. An account of a minor but unique triumph of engineering skill. The Towers described are the loftiest permanent timber structures in the world. “AN ugly blot on an otherwise beauti- ZA ful coast.” Such is the layman’s usual verdict on the towers stand- ing in the Marconi Company’s wireless tele- graph station at Poldhu in The Poldhu (jornwan The layman prob- Towers ably does not realize, however, that these structures are unique as to char- acter and purpose (the four similar towers at Cape Cod. Massachusetts, and the four at Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, being built to the same designs and specifications), and also the highest permanent erections in the world of timber construction. That they do not strike one as being graceful is due largely to the contrast which they present to the magnificent scenery which surrounds them. Were they situated in the midst of a manufacturing district, the obvious incongruity would disappear and the general effect be less severely commented upon. Also one must not lose sight of the two most important factors governing the conditions under which the work was executed—time and money. The former was of the greatest